Althouse: What to do about Opie and Anthony.

May 14, 2007

What to do about Opie and Anthony.

Here's the safe-for-work report on what "Homeless Charlie" said on their satellite radio show and how they encouraged him:

You can listed to the unexpurgated original here.

21 comments:

Mark Daniels said...: I've never heard these guys since I don't have XM.

But the clip to which you link was repulsive and sexist...not to mention juvenile. Anyone who would advocate rape of any kind under any circumstances should be fired.

Hopefully, XM will find some integrity and give these guys the ax.

Mark Daniels; 5/14/07, 7:55 AM
AllenS said...: "Anyone who would advocate rape of any kind under any circumstances should be fired."

Good point, Mark. I've never understood why it is considered funny, for certain people being sent to prison, to expect to be raped. Jay Leno jokes about it all the time.; 5/14/07, 8:07 AM
Telecomedian said...: Yes, we should immediately fire everybody who has tried to do "edgy" humor or done a bit that has backfired. There goes Saturday Night Live, MadTV, every sitcom and standup comic in the world other than that Bob Nelson guy who did the football player bit back in the `80s.

XM is a pay service. People who want to listen to Opie and Anthony's noncensored show have to pay cash for it, just like somebody who wants to watch Tony Soprano whack his relatives pays for HBO.

If the comments hadn't been picked up in the blogosphere, it would have been a non-issue.

Unless you enjoy watered-down, flavorless media and entertainment...; 5/14/07, 8:55 AM
Laura Reynolds said...: I don't buy the "well its on XM so they can say what they want" angle. They are still employees and in the era of Media Matters, YouTube, et al nothing that anyone says anywhere goes unnoticed.

Michael Richards was in a nightclub.

Feel free to be offended.; 5/14/07, 9:30 AM
Mark Daniels said...: TC:
Satirizing the pomp and pretenses of celebrities--be they political or show business--can be "edgy."

Poking fun at the prejudices and conventions of society can be "edgy."

Even if someone doesn't personally like the send-ups of "edgy" comedy, it's a form of speech that can and should be tolerated. People have a right to be "offensive."

But there's nothing "edgy" about advocating violence against another human being. There's nothing even vaguely funny about it. There's nothing being satirized.

My argument is that even if this speech is protected and its spewers have the right to say such things, we must also recognize the right of XM to draw the curtain on this radio show. It's a right which I hope they have the courage to exercise.

Mark Daniels; 5/14/07, 9:33 AM
Tim said...: "Anyone who would advocate rape of any kind under any circumstances should be fired."

Yeah, sure, unless their intended targets are members of the oppressor class (i.e., Republicans), in which case you keep your job, and get a box seat with Michael Moore and Jimmy Carter at the next Democratic National Convention.; 5/14/07, 9:51 AM
Keith said...: No one has to listen to this. It is not on a public airwave. It was on a subscription service with channel blocking. Yes, it was offensive, and yes, it was said by a possibly deranged homeless person.
XM, of course, has the right to terminate the program any time it wants. However, there are some number, possibly 1 million people, that pay for the right to listen to something that does offend others.
It is a bit scary when you read the words, "what to do about..." any group or entity. Especially among people on a blog like this who I'm assuming are fairly well informed about speech issues, and the perils of punishing speech.; 5/14/07, 10:11 AM
Freder Frederson said...: Yeah, sure, unless their intended targets are members of the oppressor class (i.e., Republicans), in which case you keep your job, and get a box seat with Michael Moore and Jimmy Carter at the next Democratic National Convention.

Who exactly are you thinking of? Do you seriously think Opie and Anthony will be guests of honor at the Democratic Convention?

But of course when Ann Coulter says she hopes the guys who threw pies at her get raped in prison, she gets a pass and is still considered a serious pundit and get invited to speak at all kinds of conservative functions.; 5/14/07, 10:16 AM
Ryan said...: That's horribly offensive language! I'm glad the MSM picked this up and warned us. Now that I know XM Satellite Radio airs these shocking rape fantasies involving public political figures, I'm NEVER going to listen to Opie and Anthony's morning programs on either CBS radio or XM Satellite Radio. And I'm certainly not going to go out and buy an XM Satellite radio now, and I'm also going to tell all my friends not to buy an XM Satellite radio or listen to that shocking filth from Opie and Anthony. Horrible!; 5/14/07, 10:28 AM
Fen said...: Freder: But of course when Ann Coulter says she hopes the guys who threw pies at her get raped in prison

The guys who threw pies... oh, you mean the brownshirts who used the threat of violence to intimidate and suppress her free speech rights? Prison rape is not enough.

You have a habit of misrepresenting what others have said so, even with Bomb-Thrower Coulter, I'd like to see a source for that statement.

But thanks for demonstrating the moral bankruptcy of the Left: fantasy rape of women who oppose your politics is justified by something Coulter said. And if Coulter doesn't say it, you'll just make it up anyway, simply to justify looking the other way.

How about simply denouncing the rape fantasy without qualifiers?; 5/14/07, 11:30 AM
Joe Hogan said...: I agree with Tim. There will be absolutely no repercussions for Opie and Anthony because there is no interest group to demand punishment, except perhaps for the Republican Party. But the party is absolutely fair game in our current political culture. Even though Rice is a member of two protected classes, African Americans and women, she is viewed as nothing better than an Aunt Tom who has sold out to the man.

Addtionally, sexually questionable language or behavior is subject to a peculiar political pre-test, not any set of absolute principles. Clarence Thomas, bad. Bill Clinton, no problem. Condoleza Rice, tough.

The thought experiment to do in this case is to imagine that the same exact words were used, but the target was Hillary Clinton. Women's groups and others on the left would be all over XM in that case. Today, silence.; 5/14/07, 11:40 AM
Freder Frederson said...: The guys who threw pies... oh, you mean the brownshirts who used the threat of violence to intimidate and suppress her free speech rights? Prison rape is not enough.

So now you are advocating prison rape?; 5/14/07, 11:54 AM
Anonymous said...: Anybody know if Media Matters had anything to say about this?; 5/14/07, 12:23 PM
Unknown said...: For those that were saying that what Opie and Anthony only said this on satellite radio, it was also on local over the air radio, at least here in NY; 5/14/07, 12:34 PM
Telecomedian said...: Mark Daniels wrote:
But there's nothing "edgy" about advocating violence against another human being. There's nothing even vaguely funny about it. There's nothing being satirized.

You mean I was the only one who laughed at Ned Beatty in "Deliverance???"

This was a bit in which a possibly-crazy man made a shocking comment on an ad-libbed show. Unlike Imus, this comment wasn't from Opie or Anthony, but the homeless man. Opie and Anthony's mistake was letting him go on too long, and cracking jokes at his expense. I found it to be too easy of a bit, but when you have to fill four, five hours a day in programming, you need easy stuff.

I was a disc jockey for years, and I did morning shows and talk shows. If somebody could PLEASE show me a definitive line between "taste" and "crass" that fits in all demographics, I'd love to see it.

And, honestly, there is NOT ONE SINGLE SUBJECT that can't be funny if done correctly. A skilled comedian, writer, artist, speaker, whatever - can make anything work if talented enough. It can be as awful as cancer or as boring as white water rafting, and a good performer can find a way to make it work. Yes, even violence on human beings.; 5/14/07, 1:08 PM
Unknown said...: NY wrote:

For those that were saying that what Opie and Anthony only said this on satellite radio, it was also on local over the air radio, at least here in NY

This is categorically untrue.

Opie and Anthony are on the Air for a total of 6 hours each day. The first 3 hours (from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET) are simulcast on both over-the-air radio and XM. The second 3 hours (from 9 a.m. to 12 noon ET) are broadcast on XM only. The comments in question were during the second, XM only, portion of the show, NOT during the simulcast portion of the show.; 5/14/07, 2:01 PM
hdhouse said...: By the logic here, the Sopranos should certainly be off the air as well as WWF Raw and the Softcore Porn Stations.

Frankly it is time for everyone to get a grip, put their eyes back in their heads, excercise the on/off button, don't buy what you don't want to hear, and overall: CHILL.; 5/14/07, 4:02 PM
Revenant said...: Could we dispense with the nonsensical idea that there is some kind of slippery slope between "firing someone for encouraging crazy homeless men to publicly fantasize about rape" and "firing anyone who ever does anything controversial"? The notion that we couldn't have Saturday Night Live and The Sopranos if we didn't also have rape-fantasy broadcasts doesn't pass a laugh test.

I didn't care if Imus got fired and I don't care if these two idiots get fired either. But the notion that they are somehow at the leading edge of entertainment is total bullshit. They're this generation's version of carnival freak shows, nothing more.; 5/14/07, 7:33 PM
Jim Treacher said...: That clip was taken out of context. Charlie also took shots at Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Obama, the Fort Dix Six, Asians, the elderly... (But for some reason, the only part that interested Breitbart was the part about Condi.) Charlie stopped by the studio and they invited him on the air. It was totally off the cuff, and it was uncensored because it's on a pay service with channel-blocking. Nobody who didn't want to hear it was forced to.

I try to provide some context here.; 5/15/07, 2:45 AM
Revenant said...: What difference does it make that it was on a pay channel? It isn't like people are "forced" to listen to free radio either.; 5/15/07, 2:12 PM
Unknown said...: revenant said:

What difference does it make that it was on a pay channel? It isn't like people are "forced" to listen to free radio either.

No, but the most frequent argument for restricting the content of broadcast material is that children may be exposed or gain access to it, or, to a lesser extent, that adults may be exposed to offensive material in passing (e.g., while tuning their radio or flipping channels).

The fact that XM is a pay service and that the channel is subject to parental blocking goes to the heart of this argument. Almost exclusively, people that listen to Opie and Anthony's broadcast intend to listen to them.; 5/15/07, 2:25 PM